Downers Grove Village Council delays peer jury discussion

Preliminary discussions by the Downers Grove Village Council to consider the village operating a peer jury program were delayed Feb. 6 because Mayor Martin Tully and two commissioners were absent from the meeting.

DOWNERS GROVE – Preliminary discussions by the Downers Grove Village Council to consider the village operating a peer jury program were delayed Feb. 6 because Mayor Martin Tully and two commissioners were absent from the meeting.

Commissioner Greg Hose, who proposed the idea, said he will request the item appear on the Feb. 20 Village Council agenda. Hose will not be attending the Feb. 13 meeting, he said.

Hose and commissioner Bob Barnett want the village to explore the possibility of running a peer jury program similar to the one formerly operated by Downers Grove Township. That program was canceled in 2017 because of a lack of state funds.

Meanwhile, township trustee Dave Van Der Laan has told peer jury supporters he has requested a discussion of the program be held at the Feb. 15 meeting of the township Board of Trustees.

Van Der Laan and trustee Abby Ferguson said at the Dec. 19, 2017, township board meeting that they would reach out during January to police chiefs, school officials, representatives from towns that run successful peer juries and the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office.

The trustees hoped to complete their discussions by the end of January, at which point they planned to meet with members of the group that supports continuation of the program, Ferguson had said.

A group of peer jury supporters also will attend the Feb. 15 meeting, said Peg Chaidez, a member of the committee that supports resurrection of the program.

Hose said he has not yet spoken to township officials but plans to contact them.